Dead almost but not quite
by fredandgeorgerule
Summary: When House took a new case, the last thing he was expecting was a family reunion... (sorry suck at summaries) Rated T just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The characters do not belong to me, they belong either to JK Rowling or FOX.

Also, English is my second language and it's kinda difficult for me to avoid every grammatical mistake. Point mistakes out, if you wish to do so, just don't be mean about it. Ok? Ok. Let's get started.

The man walked unsteadily into Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. He had blue eyes and flaming red hair. He was pretty tall and thin, but he didn't seem to be naturally thin. Instead, he looked nearly starved. To add to this, there was a hole where his right ear should be, and bruises all over him. He was half-covered in blood and limping, favoring his right foot as he walked. All that blood on him, however, looked rather fresh, less than a day old. A nurse, concerned with his state, approached him.

"Sir, is everything alright?" she asked.

"Don't worry; everything is-". This was all he managed to say. Then, his body gave up, and he collapsed.

"Ninety-seven years old, female, sudden heart attack. No history of heart disease whatsoever. No blocked arteries, aneurism or anything like that", said Dr. Chase.

"The woman's ready to die. It's not _that_ unusual for her age", commented Dr. House. He threw a file on the table. "Twenty years old, male, walked into the hospital and collapsed. He's been unconscious since then", he announced. Cameron opened the file and read it.

"The boy was beaten up, with several broken bones and a considerable amount of his blood was outside his body. Maybe with a blood transfusion-"

"This would be suitable if his blood was of _any_ kind", House cut her off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Foreman demanded.

"That is supposed to mean that Cameron isn't the only brilliant doctor in this hospital to have thought of a blood transfusion. The E.R. tried to test his blood but it's nowhere near normal blood types. His blood type simply doesn't _exist_ ". The statement left the other three doctors gaping.

"I think we should go and take a look at the patient" muttered Cameron and got up. The others, -including House, for an unknown reason- followed her suit.

They entered the young man's room, only to see him awake. He was looking at them calmly, his blue eyes empty. House had never seen such empty eyes. It was like someone had stripped them from every feeling –or worse, forced the feeling out of them. House instantly knew that this boy, despite his young age, had seen and suffered horrible things.

"Hi", said Cameron, startled. "I'm Dr. Cameron. Beside me are Drs. Chase, " She pointed at Chase "Foreman" She pointed at Foreman, "and House" She pointed at House. "You are in a hospital".

"I think I ought to know this", replied the redhead with an English accent, "with all these equipment here". At least, his brain functioned.

"Can you tell us your name?" asked Foreman.

"George Weasley". _Weasley?_ The name echoed in House's head. _Can he be…? No, it's not possible._

"Do you know what happened?". That was Chase. He seemed interested in this boy's sudden wake-up.

"I suppose I passed out. It's not uncommon. And I didn't come here for this. I'm here because I feel like I've lost half my blood", George answered.

"You did", Cameron sighed. "We could do a blood transfusion-"

"But I haven't got normal blood". Cameron nodded. "I'd love to explain to all of you why my blood is like this, but I'd rather explain it to Dr. House"

"But why?" asked Chase curiously.

"I have my reasons". George smiled. House's mind was working rapidly. The abnormal blood, the name, the mysterious request. Now it made sense. This boy was a wizard.

The blinds were closed and, apart from the patient, only House was in the room.

"Why you didn't want the team to be here?", he asked. He knew, but he wanted confirmation.

"Because, if they hear my explanation, they will think that I'm delusional"

"And what makes you think that _I_ won't?", House demanded.

"You've already figured out what I am. But you're not the only one who can recognize a wizard when you see one". House's jaw dropped open.

"How…?"

"Oh, c'mon. Your cane screams 'hidden wand' _and_ I happen to be one of the few people who know that the story of the three Black brothers. Regulus, the youngest, who had to act as the heir of the Black House after his older brother, Sirius rebelled and got himself disowned. But Sirius was neither the original heir, nor the first disowned son of the family. The older Black brother, Aries Black, was eleven when he was sorted into Ravenclaw and fifteen when he ran away from home, leaving his brother, Sirius, to become the heir at age five. Also, Walburga Black, his mother, cursed her oldest son, leaving him a limping cripple and not only she burnt his face from the family tapestry, she made it look as if he never existed. After that, Aries, who was a Metamorphomagus, changed his appearance and name and left for America. He got in med school and became a successful doctor". George finished and looked House in the eye. The older man's eyes had widened significantly.

"Who told you all that?", he asked.

"Sirius. You kept contact with him"

"Yeah. I used to send him letters, but he stopped responding about fifteen years ago. With the war going on at Britain, I assumed he died, and went on with my life. Regulus had died two years before him, so I already knew how to live with one less sibling", said House, looking out of the window. Then his gaze fell on George. "What about you? How did you end up here from England, nearly starved and beaten to death?". The boy shrugged.

"Death Eaters"

"They captured you?"

"Yeah, I was going to work, when they attacked Diagon Alley, killing some wizards and capturing many, including me. I managed to escape, find a wand and apparate the hell away from them". House was startled. He stood up and went to the door, not knowing how to reply. Before he stepped out, George spoke again:

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Can you contact my parents, Arthur and Molly Weasley? Tell them that I'm alive?" House smiled.

"OK, kid. It'll be fun to see your father again. We were friends at Hogwarts". He then turned around and left the room, without giving George a chance to reply.

"House-" started Cuddy.

"Nope. I'm out", he cut her off and walked out of the hospital. He went straight home, grinning all the time. When he finally arrived, he carefully detached the handle of his cane, revealing the opening of a tube. He turned it upside down and the wand fell from inside. Yew and unicorn hair, 13 inches, very flexible. House picked it up and felt a familiar warmth as his fingers gripped the wood. He _was_ living as a Muggle, but he still used magic. Still grinning, he apparated to the Burrow

A/N: This was the first chapter… If you want another let me know, if not… well, say it! I love feedback! Don't forget to r&r! see ya!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The characters do not belong to me, they belong either to JK Rowling or FOX.

Also, English is my second language and it's kinda difficult for me to avoid every grammatical mistake. Point mistakes out, if you wish to do so, just don't be mean about it. Ok? Ok. Let's get started.

House stood outside the building. It had grown bigger since the last time he saw it. He could say that three rooms and two floors were added magically. He knocked on the door. The man who opened it was.. George! _George?_ thought House. _How could he… no, you bloody moron! He has both ears. Twins?_ He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something crashing against his back. He realized that the other man had pushed him on the wall and was holding his wand on House's throat.

"Who are you and what the hell you want?" he growled.

"I'm Aries Black", said House, "I'm a friend of your father's"

"Oh yeah? Let me check that", replied the other. "Dad!" he yelled over his shoulder. Another man, significantly older, appeared. Skinny, tall with a few flaming red hair and spectacles, Arthur Weasley had changed a lot since Hogwarts, but House still recognised him. And he hoped his childhood friend would recognize him, too. But Arthur arched an eyebrow at him and asked:

"Who may you be?"

"He said he was your friend, Aries Black, but I don't think so anymore", replied the young wizard, an edge entering his voice.

"Aries Black?", said Arthur skeptically and turned to House: "Dedicated to my Mother!" he exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. House smirked. He knew exactly what his friend was talking about. With a little concentration, his hair turned green and his eyes silver. Then his hair turned blue and his eyes black. Back to the green-silver combination. Again the blue and black. House continued switching colors while he explained:

"Sixth year, after a Quidditch match, where Slytherin lost with huge difference from Ravenclaw -my house- I continuously swapped the two houses' colors on my hair and eyes and dedicated that to my Mother, who'd left me with this wicked limb the previous year". Arthur smiled. House had never let anyone except his best friend know how he'd got that limb.

"Let him in, he's not lying" he said to his son, who dropped his wand and let go of House.

The inside of the Burrow was warm and welcoming, unlike the cold weather outside. House didn't quite understand that. Why was so cold at the end of April? This was England, of course but such temperatures on April the 30th were unusual even for this country. His thoughts were interrupted when he realised that Arthur had been talking.

"Can you repeat that?", he asked.

"I asked why'd you come all the way from America. You usually don't just pop by to say hi"

"Yeah, in fact I wanted to tell you that-" He was cut off by three loud _crack_ s in the front garden. Both men looked out of the window. Three cloaked figures were approaching the Burrow. Two of them were masked, but the middle one had his face completely bare. Even House was able to recognize him: he was Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Fred" said Arthur, a bit too calmly considering there were Death Eaters in his garden, "You've got guests!". Fred was immediately outside grinning murderously. He had his wand in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other and he had his eyes fixed on Lestrange.

"Why is he so excited at a Death Eater attack?", asked House.

"You met him in a bad time. Once, he was a wonderful boy. He and his twin -George- could be seen laughing even when the war was raging outside. They had a shop in Diagon Alley, which survived despite You-Know-Who rising to power. But everything changed when George was captured during an onslaught, five months ago. Nobody has lasted that much at the hands of Death Eaters. Especially a blood traitor. So, one month ago, he was declared dead. It hit Fred too hard. It transformed him. As revenge for George's death, he vowed to kill Rodolphus Lestrange. Sadly, he has accidentally killed several because of misaims, including Lucius Malfoy, Dolohov, Yaxley, Mulciber and Lestrange's younger brother, Rabastan. All of those deaths –despite being accidental- made the Death Eaters mark him for death. I think Rodolphus is here to try one more time to kill him but he isn't leaving here alive today. Fred's been after him for months, too. You see, he was the one who took George hostage in Diagon Alley"

"Oh", said House absently. "But where did Fred and Rodolphus go?". Arthur looked at the spot where the two wizards were fighting just a moment ago. But they weren't there anymore.

He stabbed the first one –not fatally- and the masked Death Eaters flew. They were absolutely horrified. Fred mentally scoffed. _Newbies_. He concentrated on the last Death Eater. He was the reason why Fred had fought in so many battles. Once Lestrange was dead, Fred would stop fighting.

As Fred neared the Death Eater, the second tried to get his wand up. But before he could anything with it, Fred had thrown him off his feet with a Stunner. When he fell down, the younger wizard knocked Lestrange's wand off reach and jumped on top of him with his knife only inches from his head.

"Hi", he said, "remember my face?"

"Yeah, I remember you. You killed my brother"

"So did you", hissed Fred.

This conversation, despite not being long, gave Rodolphus enough time to grab his wand. Fred saw it out of the corner of his eye and knew instantly what Lestrange was going to do. After panicking for a split second, he buried his knife deep between Rodolphus Lestrange's eyes. But that second Fred lost proved to be really important. And that was because the bastard managed to apparate and dragged Fred with him.

Malfoy Manor was still Voldemort's headquarters, despite the death of its owner. At that point, only Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco Malfoy were there. Bellatrix was pacing impatiently in the living room, waiting her husband come back and tell her he'd got rid of that boy who was audacious enough to kill some of the highest-ranking Death Eaters. When she heard the crack she went to the Apparition Point. She expected to see Rodolphus carrying the boy unconscious or dead. Instead of that, she saw her husband lying on the floor. She saw Fred Weasley taking the knife out of Rodolphus' head and then looking at her. He gave her a cheeky smile before raising his wand to apparate. She felt rage filling her. She pointed her wand at him. He noticed it and got ready to defend himself. She threw a Shield in the air, and proceeded to fire a Cruciatus curse. Then a Killing curse. Throat-cutting spell. Bone-Breaker. Conjunctivitis. But nothing hit. Fred kept dodging, and his spells had eaten through Bellatrix's shield. The fragments of his last Stunner had hit her. As she threw them off, she noticed Fred throwing his knife towards her. She fired another Shield, waiting for the knife to fell on it as if it was a wall. But it got through and buried itself in her chest. Startled, she looked down at it and then up at Fred. He shrugged.

"Shields only work for spells"

"You'll pay for that", she said. And that was it. With the last strength she had left, she took the knife out of her chest and threw it toward Fred as he disapparated. It disappeared with him. Bellatrix had done this again and again. It usually resulted in an injury that magic wasn't quick enough to heal. As she fell on the floor, she grinned, and the last thought that ever crossed Bellatrix Lestrange's mind was this: _At least that little prat will die too_. And then she was dead.

A/N: Here goes the second chapter! Did you love it? Did you hate it? Let me know!

A/N2: I'm sitting for an exam this weekend, so the next chapter will be up by Monday (probably)

A/N3: Also should the knife hit Fred, or miss him?


	3. Author's Note, please read

**Very important Author's Note, please read**

Hey… It's been a looooooooong time. I'm sorry I didn't update all this time, but I was dealing with real life, three new series, six books and a massive writer's block. And I need to ask you something.

But, before we get to that part, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has favorite, followed or left a review for this story. It really means a lot. Also, I could not believe it when suddenly I got an email concerning new follows and reviews. I really thought this story was buried so deep that no one would ever see it again. But here we are. You people are not giving up on this story and I didn't spend the last months of my life trying to find a way to continue this just to give up now.

Which brings me to my second point. I need h-h-h… *coughs* I need he-hel… *almost chokes* I can't do it alone! So please, if anybody has any ideas on the plot, I would be happy to hear them.

Also, the next chapter might not come for a while, so pleasepleaseplease don't skin me alive if it is too late. I promise that I'll do my best to not leave you wait this long again

Till next time

-Kate


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